Lopez firm sets aside P5-B more to buy back shares

Lopez family-led First Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPH) has earmarked an additional P5 billion for an ongoing stock buyback program that will run until July 2020.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday, FPH said the program was “intended to strike a balance between enhancing the company’s capital structure and maintaining the ability to fund future growth and investments.”

“Buyback transactions will be triggered if the company stock is substantially undervalued, when there is high volatility in share prices or in any instance where a buyback should serve to improve shareholder value,” it added.

The additional P5 billion for stock buyback has been approved by FPH’s executive committee, augmenting an interim additional allotment of P750 million for the program that was prepared in June.

To date, FPH has repurchased from the open market about P6.75 billion worth of shares.